Fulham F.C. have established themselves as a mid-table team with a solid squad that can cause problems for anyone. With players like Bernd Leno, Adama Traoré, Raúl Jimenez, Alex Iwobi, and Tom Cairney, among others, Fulham have a strong squad that can spring several surprises.
Since the 2022-2023 season, they have been participating in the English Premier League, and in this season that just ended, 2024-2025, they finished in 11th position.
In addition to that, it is a club where many Premier League legends have passed through, including Edwin Van der Sar, Dimitar Berbatov, and Mousa Dembélé.
On the other hand, Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia is one of the most successful clubs in the entire country and not only that, it is the oldest team in Arabia, since it was founded in 1927.
Since the rise in popularity of the Saudi Pro League, many world-class players are currently part of the team, among them are Danilo Pereira, Moussa Diaby, Fabinho, N’Golo Kanté and the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema, who has been the team’s flagship player since 2023.
Fulham F.C. and Al Ittihad continue their preseason matches and they will be the stars of the match on July 30, 2025. It’s not very common to see these two teams face each other, but it’s a match that many would like to see simply because it generates a lot of curiosity to see an English team face an Arab club and to see European football collide with Saudi football and how it would end.
The match will be played, as mentioned above, on Wednesday, July 30, at EST 1:00 p.m.
Preseason matches are important even if they don’t seem like it, as they show the team’s level for the new season, so it’s good to see how they start, and there are those fans who are impatient to see the match.
Many Fulham F.C. fans are happy as they come from a 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest on July 26, and many others are convinced that Raul Jimenez will start against Al Ittihad.
The other issue is that the match will be played in Portugal, but at this time it is unknown where it will be, but there are those who believe, after some extensive research, that the match between the two will be at The Campus, Quinta do Lago.
Focusing on predictions, while Al Ittihad might have a stronger team on paper, Fulham’s start to the preseason has been a lot stronger, defeating Nottingham Forest by a 3-1 score a few days ago. Manager Marco Silva also has most of his squad at his disposal, which can’t be said of the Saudi Arabian counterpart.
Al Ittihad fans who want to watch the match will be able to do so as, according to Al Ittihad’s official X account, the match will be broadcast on @STCTV_Mena, which will be very convenient for them.
Karim Benzema, who we’ll likely see in this match, is in the process of renewing his contract for another season with the Arab team, which would be really good for them since he has become, practically, the most important player in the club.
And there are rumors that the Arabian club will seek to pair Benzema with his former teammate, the Brazilian Vinicius Jr., who is having issues with Real Madrid to renew his contract. The Spanish giants are not convinced with his performances from last season and reports claim they would be interested in selling if he doesn’t perform this year.
It is going to be an interesting for both of these teams, especially considering the recent rise of Saudi Arabian football.
